All posts by Julian Lyon

How hard it is to sell a concept

Apart from Labour whose campaign seems to have been about leaving the European Union untouched (rather than threatening the same phrase with the last word omitted!), the other main parties debating with the voters about Europe seem to have had the options:

IN……OUT…..or…..SHAKE IT ALL ABOUT

This represents the Lib Dem, UKIP and Conservative positions.

I know only too well how difficult it can be to sell a concept rather than an absolute. In versus Out seems to have been a simple choice for the electorate – but NOT a referendum.

The Shake it all About approach advocated by the Conservatives is not a clear choice – and neither does failing to support it necessarily do any harm to the prospect of an IN-OUT referendum in the next Parliament.

The problem for David Cameron’s team will be to make the message clearer when it matters most – at a General Election – and hope that UKIP has not already stolen so much of a march that a majority government becomes unachievable.

My own experience is in trying to garner support for establishing a vision and a master plan for Guildford – not the same as having a vision and a master plan to put to the vote. Guildford Vision Group has realised that we now need to focus on presenting an outline master plan for people to decide whether they approve or not.

The thing about blogging is that it gives the blogger an opportunity to say what is on his or her mind.

This blog has been set up as the envelope within which my various interests can be contained. The various work, community and other activities in which I am engaged at any time give me a fair amount of scope for commentary and conjecture.

I hope you will find my blog interesting and that it will provoke some thought and perhaps even debate.

I have recently acquired an iPad which may give me more opportunities to write content but apologise in advance if there is some time between my blogs.

In any event, the blog is subsidiary to life rather than making me its slave and so I hope to only write when there is something worthwhile to say.